ODYSSEY BOOK XXII
CASTING his beggarly raiment aside, deep-plotting Odysseus
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Leapt on the threshold of stone, still holding the bow and the quiver
Laden with bolts; and before him the swift-winged arrows he poured out
Close to his feet on the floor; and he spake, addressing the suitors:
"Lo, this fatal, calamitous contest is done—it is finished!
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Now for a mark far other—a mark ne'er smit by a bowman!
This will I choose me, and see if renown shall be sent by Apollo."
Spake, and at Antinous directed the sharp-fanged arrow,
Just as he paused at the moment of lifting a beautiful goblet,
Golden, with handles at both of its sides; and already he held it,
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Meaning to drink of the wine; and of death no thought or suspicion
Troubled his mind. (Would any believe in the midst of a banquet
One man, single among so many, however audacious,
Thus might compass his doom and plunge him in death and in darkness?)
Steadily aimed was the bolt of Odysseus: it struck on the gullet.
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Pierced was the delicate neck right through by the point of the arrow.
Over he lurched; from his hand dropt crashing the cup, and he lay there
Mortally struck, while jetted a thick red stream of his life-blood
Out of his nostrils. His foot, convulsively striking the table,
Spurned it afar and upset it. Defiled lay all of the viands,
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Spilt on the ground, roast flesh with the bread. Then clamour and tumult
Rose in the hall when the suitors beheld their comrade was fallen.
Up from the seats at the table they leaped in a panic of terror,
Eagerly peering around at the well-built walls to discover
Either a shield or a spear strong-shafted; but nothing they found there.
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Then on Odysseus they turned and with angry reviling assailed him:
"Stranger, in sooth thou'lt suffer for shooting at men! In a contest
Never again shalt thou share. Death certain and sudden awaits thee.
Lo, thou hast murdered a man who was foremost of all of the princes
Here in the Ithacan land—so Ithacan vultures shall eat thee."
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Thus spake all, for they deemed of a truth that the stranger had killed him
Not with intent. Ah, fools! yea, foolish and blind, for they saw not
Over the heads of them all impending the toils of destruction.
Glaring askance at the men, deep-plotting Odysseus addressed them :
"Dogs! ye imagined me never returning again to my homestead
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Back from the land of the Trojans and so laid waste my possessions,
Won by compulsion to lustful embraces the women, my servants,
Yea and with guile came wooing my wife while still I was living,
Neither afraid of the gods who inhabit the infinite heaven
Nor that the vengeance of man could smite you hereafter. Behold now
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Over the heads of you all impending the toils of destruction!"
Thus did he speak. Forthwith pale dread seized all of the suitors,
Each one peering to 'scape from the doom that was swiftly approaching.
Eurymachus was the one that alone found voice, and he answered :
'Art thou Odysseus the Ithacan, come once more to thy homeland,
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Truly thou speakest with right. Such things have wrought the Achaeans,
Many and many infatuate deeds in thy palace and farmsteads.
Lo now, he that was guilty of all here lieth before us,
Antinous. It is he that alone these crimes hath incited.
Not so much that he needed to wed or was longing for marriage;
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No, his intent was another—but heaven refused to fulfil it—
E'en to install as the king of the flourishing Ithacan people
None but himself, and, catching thy son in an ambush, to slay him.
Now he is dead, as he richly deserved. So spare us, thy people,
Even thy own! We will go each one to his tribe, and hereafter
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Each shall requite thee for all he has eaten and drunk in thy palace,
Each one make an atonement of five score oxen in value.
Also with bronze and with gold will we offer requital and soften
Fully thy heart. Till then for thy wrath none truly can blame thee."
Glaring askance at the man, thus spake deep-plotting Odysseus:
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"Eurymachus, if ye give me the whole of the wealth of your fathers,
All ye at present possess and all ye shall add to it later,
Not e'en thus shall my hands be restrained nor shall cease from the slaughter
Till I shall wreak my revenge to the full on the sins of the suitors.
Now there lieth before you to fight, or to flee—if by fighting
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Any shall hope, or by fleeing, to save him from doom and destruction.
Nay but I trow not a man shall escape from his utter perdition."
Thus as he spake were loosened the knees and the hearts of the suitors.
Then spake Eurymachus once more as he turned to his comrades :
"Friends, it is vain! The invincible might of his hands he will check not.
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Now he has got in his power the smooth-wrought bow and the quiver,
Down from the threshold of stone he will shoot us, until he has slain us
All, to a man. Let us turn our minds to the fury of battle.
Draw ye! and hold ye the tables before you to shield you as bucklers,
Quenching his bolts so fatal and swift. Then, rushing upon him
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All in a body, attempt from the threshold and portal to drive him!
So let us get to the city and quickly arouse the alarm there!
Then shall the shaft that the fellow has shot be the last of his lifetime."
These words loudly he uttered, and drawing his sword from the scabbard,
Bronzen and sharpened on both of the edges, he leaped on Odysseus
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Terribly shouting; but just at the moment the godlike Odysseus
Loosened a bolt from the bow, and smiting his breast by the nipple
Into the liver was driven the swift-winged shaft; and his sword dropt
Out of his hand to the ground; then, staggering, over a table,
All entangled around it, he fell and scattered the dishes
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On to the floor with the food and a twy-cupped bowl; and his forehead
Smote on the earth as he writhed in his agony, spurning the armchair
Sharply with both of his feet. On his eyes then darkness descended.
Amphinomus now rushed at Odysseus, the glorious hero,
Charging him straight from the front with his sharp sword drawn from the scabbard,
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Hoping to drive him away from the portal; but ere he had reached him
Telemachus from behind with a bronze-shod javelin smote him
Right in the midst of the back; and out of his breast it protruded.
Crashing he fell, and he struck on the ground with the whole of his forehead.
Telemachus sprang back, but his long-stemmed spear he had left there
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Planted in Amphinomus, for he feared lest one of the nobles
While he was drawing it forth might suddenly rush to assail him,
Giving a stab with a sword or a downward stroke of his weapon.
Then to his well-loved father he ran, and reaching him quickly
Stood at his side, and in haste these swift-winged words he addressed him :
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"Father, at once I will fetch thee a shield and a couple of lances,
Also a helm all bronze with a visor to cover the temples.
Then I will go and will clothe me in armour, and give to the swineherd
Other, and also the cowherd. 'Tis better in arms to equip us."
Forthwith answering spake these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
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"Run for them! run!—while yet I have arrows enough to defend me!
Lest thus single I fail to resist and be thrust from the doorway."
Thus did he speak, and the youth, as his well-loved father commanded,
Ran to the chamber in which were lying the glorious weapons.
Out of them eight good lances and four of the shields he selected;
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Four bronze helmets he chose him with horse-tails heavily crested,
Carrying which he returned full quickly and came to his father.
Firstly himself in a harness of bronze he invested; and likewise
Also the thralls, those twain, encased them in beautiful armour.
Then at the side of the wise and wary Odysseus they placed them.
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He however, as long as the arrows sufficed to defend him,
Aye at the suitors at one or the other—entrapped in his mansion
Aimed; and they fell as he smote them, the one by the side of the other.
Then, when the shafts had deserted their lord and had failed him in shooting,
Nigh to the post of the door of the massively builded apartment
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Propping the bow, on the face of the inside glistering house-wall,
Over his shoulders he hung him a fourfold target of oxhide;
Also a well-wrought helm on his stalwart head he adjusted,
Plumed with the tail of a horse, which terribly nodded above it.
Then two weapons he chose, bronze-bladed and powerful lances.
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Now in the well-built wall was a high-raised postern inserted
Flush with the slab of the threshold, and here from the hall was an outlet
Through to a passage by doors well-fitting and double defended.
This had Odysseus commanded the good old swineherd to look to
Standing anigh it; for here was the only approach to the passage.
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Then from the midst of the suitors, addressing them, spake Agelaus:
"Friends, is a man to be found who will mount by the postern and quickly
Bring a report to the men of the city and rouse an alarm there ?
Then shall the shafts that the fellow has shot be the last of his lifetime."
Him forthwith gave answer Melanthius master of goatherds :
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"Twere not possible, prince Agelaus, for terribly near it
Opens the beautiful door of the court, and the mouth of the passage
Offers a peril, for one strong man might hinder a thousand.
Navy, let me fetch you, to arm you withal, both weapons and hauberks
Out of the chamber in which (for I trow it was there and not elsewhere)
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All were stowed by this fine prince Telemachus and his father."
These words spoken, he clambered—Melanthius master of goatherds—
Up by the loophole lights of the hall to the rooms of Odysseus.
Thence twelve targets he took and a dozen of lances, and also
Twelve bronze helmets he chose him with horse-tails heavily crested.
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Then he returned, and he brought them and gave them in haste to the suitors.
Now did the knee-joints quake and the inmost heart of Odysseus
While he perceived them equipping themselves in the armour and shaking
Long-stemmed spears in their hands; and he felt that his task was a great one.
Quickly he turned to his son and with swift-winged words he addressed him :
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"Telemachus, is it one of the maids in the women's apartment
Plying this treacherous game—or else peradventure Melantheus?"
Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:
"Father, the fault is my own that it happened, and guilty is no one
Other, for after I opened the fast-closed door of the chamber
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Wholly forgetting I left it, and some one cleverer spied it.
Go now, good Eumaeus, and closing the door of the chamber
Watch and discover if one of the women is doing this mischief;
Else it is Dolius' son, I am certain, the goatherd Melantheus."
Thus did the men hold converse and counsel the one with the other.
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Then once more to the chamber Melanthius master of goatherds
Went for the beautiful arms; and the good old swineherd, who saw it,
Hastily called to Odysseus, who stood full near, and addressed him :
"Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wary Odysseus,
Yea it is even the fellow we thought, that impudent goatherd!
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See, he is going again to the room! Come, tell me exactly :
Should I be able to master the man, were't better to slay him,
Or shall I bring him to thee for his punishment, so that he pay for
All of the many transgressions his malice devised in thy homestead?"
Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
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"I and my son will be able to cope with the insolent suitors,
Holding them penned in the hall of the palace in spite of their fury.
Ye two, twisting the hands and the feet of the fellow behind him,
Drag him within. To his back then lashing a panel of boarding,
Firmly attach to his body a rope strong-stranded, and haul him
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Up by a pillar aloft till he dangle anigh to the roof-beam,
So that he live right long while suffering terrible torture."
Thus did he speak, and they listened attent to his words and obeyed them.
Unto the chamber they went, and they saw him within; but he wist not;
Right at the innermost end of the room he was searching for armour.
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So at the door they remained, each one by the side of a door-post.
Soon came crossing the threshold Melanthius master of goatherds,
Laden with arms: in the one of his hands was a beautiful helmet,
While in the other he carried a buckler—a broad and an old one
Spotted with mould (as a youngster the hero Laertes had borne it;
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Here long years it had lain, and the seams were loose of the oxhide).
Suddenly leaping upon him they seized him, and into the chamber
Dragged by the hair he was flung on the floor, and groaning he lay there,
While with a bond right grievous they girded his hands and his ankles,
Twisting the limbs well back and securely, as bid by the master,
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Even Also Laertes' son, long-suffering godlike Odysseus.
Then to his body attaching a rope strong-stranded they hauled him
Up by a pillar aloft till he dangled anigh to the roof-beam.
Here as he hung Eumaeus the swineherd addressed him and mocked him :
"Somewhat a long and a sleepless night thou'lt find it, Melantheus,
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Though right soft is the bed in the which thou art couched, as befits thee;
Nor shall the Dawn, when she newly ariseth from streams of the Ocean,
Fail to appear to thee throned in her glory, as erst when thou dravest
Goats of the flock to the palace to furnish a feast for the suitors."
Thus held tight in the deadly embrace of the rope he was left there,
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While in the armour they clad them, and shutting the glistering portal
Quickly returned to the master, the wise and wary Odysseus.
Here then, breathing the fury of battle, they stood on the door-stone,
Four of them, while in the hall stood many opposing them bravely.
Now did the daughter of Zeus draw nigh them, the goddess Athene,
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Once more likened to Mentor in voice and in bodily semblance.
Then did Odysseus rejoice as he saw her, and spake to her saying:
"Mentor, I pray thee, defend me from harm, and remember thy comrade,
One that was dear and was kind to thee often—the friend of thy boyhood!"
Thus did he speak, but he deemed 'twas Athena who stirreth the battle.
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Then from the depths of the hall great clamour was raised by the suitors,
Foremost shouting abuse Agelaus the son of Damastor :
"Mentor, I bid thee beware lest words of Odysseus beguile thee
Thus with the suitors to fight and to stand by his side and defend him,
Since I am sure we shall win us the end that we purpose in this wise :
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After the death of the twain (they shall die, both son and the father)
Thou shalt be slain, thou too—such mischievous deeds thou art wishing
Here in the palace to work. With thy head thou shalt pay for thy folly.
So with the edge of the sword we shall rob you of strength to resist us ;
Then thy possessions—the whole of the wealth in thy fields and thy mansion—
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All we shall mix with the wealth of Odysseus, and ne'er shall we suffer
Either thy sons or thy daughters to dwell in the halls of thy homestead,
Nor shall thy excellent wife go gadding about in the city."
So did he speak, and it maddened to fury the heart of Athene,
Till on Odysseus she turned and with angry reproaches addressed him:
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"Now no longer, Odysseus, of worth is thy strength or thy manhood,
Such as was thine when in battle for white-armed Helen the high-born
Nine long years with the Trojans thou foughtest unweariedly ever,
Slaughtering many and many a foe in the terrible warfare.
Thine was the counsel that captured the wide-wayed city of Priam.
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How then! Now thou art come to thy home and to all thy possessions,
Why in the face of the suitors lament and behave as a weakling?
BATTEN WILSON
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE SUITORS
Navy, come hither, my friend, to my side! Stand nigh and behold me,
So shalt thou learn from my deeds what manner of mortal is Mentor,
Alcimus' son, to requite thee a kindness by fighting thy foemen."
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Thus did she speak, but she gave no victory full and decisive;
Still was she wishing to put to a trial the strength and the prowess
Both of Odysseus himself and his valiant son; and she vanished,
Suddenly flying aloft to the smoke-stained roof of the palace,
Where on a rafter she sat in the fashion and form of a swallow.
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Now took lead in the fray Agelaus the son of Damastor,
Eurynomus, Demoptolemus, and the son of Polyctor
Peisandrus, and Amphimedon and Polybus wily,
Even the best and the bravest by far that of all of the suitors
Still were living and fighting to save their lives from destruction
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(Others already the bow with the storm of its arrows had conquered).
These Agelaus addressed and to all of them shouted, exclaiming:
"Friends, the invincible strength of the fellow is failing already!
Lo too, Mentor is gone from his side, with his brags and his boastings,
Leaving the four thus standing alone in the front of the doorway.
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Come, let us hurl with the spears—not all of us casting together :
Six of us only attempt it at first, in the hope that the Father
Grant that we gain us the glory of smiting and slaying Odysseus.
Should this fellow be brought to a fall, of the others I reck not."
Thus did he speak, and they cast at Odysseus with spears as he bade them,
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Eagerly hurling; but all were foiled by the goddess Athene.
Into the post of the door of the strong-built hall of the palace
One of them drave, and the door close-fastened was smit by another,
While in the wall struck lances of ash bronze-bladed and heavy.
So when they thus had escaped unharmed from the spears of the suitors,
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Then to address them began long-suffering godlike Odysseus :
"Now for myself is the moment to speak and to bid you, my comrades,
Into the throng of the suitors to hurl; for they thirst to destroy us,
Adding to all of their former iniquities murder and rapine."
Thus did he speak, and the four, their keen-edged lances uplifting,
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Hurled them with accurate aim. Demoptolemus by Odysseus,
Euryades by the prince, Elatus by the swineherd was smitten,
Peisandrus by the man who as neatherd tended the cattle.
Biting the dust these lay on the floor's wide surface extended,
While to the end of the hall in a panic retreated the others.
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Then dashed forward the four and drew their spears from the corpses..
Now once more did the suitors, the keen-edged lances uplifting
Eagerly hurl; but the most were foiled by the goddess Athene.
Into the post of the door of the strong-built hall of the palace
One of them drave, and the door close-fastened was smit by another,
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While in the wall struck lances of ash bronze-bladed and heavy.
Amphimedon natheless smote Telemachus by the hand-joint
Lightly, the edge of the blade scarce scratching the skin on the surface.
Next with a long-stemmed spear Ctesippus hurled at the swineherd.
Over his shield, just grazing the shoulder, it flew, and alighted.
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Then did the four on the side of the wise and wary Odysseus
Once more hurl in the throng of the suitors the keen-edged lances.
Smitten was Eurydamas by Odysseus the sacker of cities;
Amphimedon fell struck by the prince, Polybus by the swineherd,
Ctesippus by the man who as neatherd tended the cattle;
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Full on the breast he was struck, and the man exultingly mocked him :
"Ah, Polytherses' son, thou'rt fond of abuse, but I warn thee
Never to yield to the folly of brag, but to leave the decision
Unto the gods, whose wisdom is greater by far than a mortal's.
This is my gift in return for the foot of an ox that thou gavest
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Unto the godlike Odysseus when here in his home he was begging."
These words uttered the herd of the crook-horned kine; and Odysseus
Stabbed with the thrust of a spear long-shafted the son of Damastor;
Telemachus too smote Leiocritus, son of Euenor,
Right in the midst of the flank, and the blade clean through him was driven ;
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Forward he fell and he struck on the ground with the whole of his forehead.
Then did Athena her aegis uplift, that is death to a mortal;
High in the roof she displayed it, appalling the minds of the suitors.
Hither and thither they rushed in a panic, as kine on a pasture
Scatter whene'er comes glancing and darting upon them a gadfly
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Late in the season of spring, when the days grow longer and longer;
While as the vultures with sharp-hooked beaks and with terrible talons
Out of the hills come swooping and chasing the birds of the lowland
Down from the clouds, till over the plain affrighted they flutter,
Then pounce suddenly down and destroy them, and nought can defend them,
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Nor can they flee (men also rejoice at the chase and the capture),
Thus those four gave chase in the hall to the horde of the suitors,
Smiting around them to left and to right; and a horrible groaning
Rose midst lopping of heads; and the floor ran red with the life-blood.
Leiodes, with a rush, now fell at the feet of Odysseus,
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Clasping his knees in entreaty; and swift-winged words he addressed him :
"Lo, by thy knees I beseech thee to pity and spare me, Odysseus!
None of the women, I swear, did I wrong in the halls of thy palace
Either by act unseemly or word; yea, also the others
Often I tried to restrain when I saw such folly committed.
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Natheless ne'er did they listen nor keep their hands from offending;
So hath a terrible doom o'erwhelmed them because of their madness.
What! shall an innocent priest who has harmed thee in nothing be slaughtered
Even as those? Is it thus thou repayest me thanks for my goodness?"
Glaring askance at the man deep-plotting Odysseus addressed him:
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"Navy, if indeed thou avowst thee as priest to the rabble of suitors,
Often, I ween, in the hall of my palace a prayer thou hast offered
Begging my happy return might still be afar from fulfilment,
Ay and my well-loved wife might wed thee and bear thee an offspring.
So thou art doomed to a death right bitter—nor hope to escape it."
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These words uttered, he seized with his powerful hand on a broadsword
Lying anear—dropt there on the floor by the prince Agelaus
While he was dying—and into the nape of the kneeler he drave it.
Down in the dust went rolling the head while still it was speaking.
Filled with a hope to escape from the darkness of death was the minstrel
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Phemius, Terpes' son, who had sung at the feasts by compulsion.
Holding his sweet-voiced lute in his tremulous fingers he stood there
Nigh to the postern door; and his heart was divided within him
Whether to slip from the hall and to flee to the altar for refuge
Built in the court to omnipotent Zeus, where often aforetime
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Thighs of the cattle Odysseus had burnt, and his father Laertes,
Or rush forward and grasp with his hands at the knees of Odysseus.
Thus as he pondered thereon this plan seemed surely the better,
Even to fall at the feet of the godlike son of Laertes.
Therefore his hollow phorminx he set on the floor of the palace
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Next to a crater of wine and an armchair studded with silver,
Then rushed forward and fell at the feet of Odysseus and begged him,
Clasping his knees in entreaty; and swift-winged words he addressed him :
"Lo, by thy knees I beseech thee to pity and spare me, Odysseus
Also thyself wouldst suffer hereafter the pain of repentance
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Wert thou to slaughter a minstrel, who singeth for men and immortals.
None but the god was my master: he breathed in my heart and he taught me
All the enchantment of song; and now I am singing before thee
E'en as my god. Then long not to smite at my throat and to slay me!
Yea, and thy well-loved son prince Telemachus will assure thee
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Ne'er was I willing to come to thy halls, far less was I wishful
Here to resort with the suitors and sing to them after the banquet.
Being the stronger by far and many in number, they forced me."
Thus as he spake he was heard by the valiant son of Odysseus.
Quickly the prince turned round and called to his father anigh him :
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"Hold! he is innocent! Strike not the man with thy weapon, my father!
Medon the herald as well let us save, for he ever aforetime
Tended me carefully while I was still but a child in thy homestead,
Should he be living and not by Philoetius slain, or the swineherd,
Neither discovered by thee while raging around in the palace."
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Thus as he spake he was heard by the wise old Medon the herald.
Cowering under a chair, wrapt round in a new-flayed oxskin,
Hiding in hope to escape from the darkness of death, he was lying.
Swiftly uprising from under the chair and unrolling the oxhide
Forward he sprang, and he fell at the feet of the youth, in entreaty
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Clasping his knees, and with haste these swift-winged words he addressed him:
"Friend, I am here! Hold, hold, I beseech thee! and call to thy father
Lest in his furious might with the keen-edged sword he shall harm me,
Angered because of the men—these suitors who wasted his substance
Here in his palace ;—and thee they regarded as nothing, the madmen!"
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Then to the man spake thus with a smile deep-plotting Odysseus:
"Be not afraid! Thou art safe. He wishes to succour and save thee.
So shalt thou feel in thy heart this truth, and shalt tell it to others:
Better by far is the doing of good than the doing of evil.
Go now, both of you. Go from the hall and away from the slaughter.
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Sit outside in the court, both sweet-voiced singer and herald,
While I remain in the palace to finish my work, as I needs must."
So did he speak, and the twain went forth from the hall to the courtyard.
Here by the altar of Zeus the Almighty they sat, and around them
Hither and thither they peered and of death were ever expectant.
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Also Odysseus was peering around in the house, to discover
Any remaining and hoping to 'escape death's terrible darkness.
Weltering there in the dust and in blood lay all of the suitors,
Fallen in many and many a heap, like fishes that boatmen
Drag in a strong-meshed net from the grey-green depths of the ocean
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On to the beach of a hollow recess in the shore, and they lie there
Heaped on the sand, all gasping in vain for the salt sea water,
While by the heat of the sun drawn forth is the life from their bodies.
Thus were lying in heaps, piled one on the other, the suitors.
Then at the last to his son deep-plotting Odysseus addressed him :
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"Telemachus, go call me the old nurse Eurycleia,
So that I tell her a thing that is stirring my spirit within me."
Thus did he speak, and the youth, as his well-loved father commanded,
Rattled the door of the chamber and called nurse Eurycleia :
"Hither in haste, old dame, who over the women attendants
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Keepest an eye and hast charge of them all in the palace as matron.
Haste! for my father is bidding thee come. He has something to tell thee."
Thus did he speak, and the word that he uttered abode with her wingless.
Opening quickly the door of the fair-built women's apartment,
Over the threshold she stept; and the youth went onward before her,
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Till to Odysseus she came. In the midst of the dead he was standing,
Smeared all over with blood and filthy with gore. As a lion,
Leaving the place in the which he has eaten an ox of the farmstead,
Goes on his way, and the whole of the chest and the cheeks of the monster
Drip with the gore——and a terror befalleth the man who beholds him—
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So all smeared with the blood on his hands and his feet was Odysseus.
Now when the slain she beheld and the terrible blood, and in triumph
Fain had exulted aloud (for she saw that the deed was accomplished),
Then did Odysseus, perceiving her longing, restrain and rebuke her,
While upraising his voice these swift-winged words he addressed her :
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"Woman, exult in thy heart, but in silence, subduing thy triumph.
Triumphing over the slain is a deed unseemly, unholy.
These hath the doom of the gods in the midst of their wickedness smitten,
Seeing they treated alike all earth-born men with dishonour,
Good no less than the bad—yea every one that approached them.
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So hath a terrible doom o'erwhelmed them because of their madness.
Come now, tell me of all concerning the maids in the palace,
Which of them honour me not and which are guiltless among them."
Then did the dear old nurse make answer and thus she addressed him:
"Well now, all of the truth in this matter, my child, I will tell thee.
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Here in thy palace the women that serve are fifty in number,
Thralls that we trained of ourselves to attend to the work of the household,
Such as the carding of wool and enduring the labours of bondage.
Twelve of the maidens in all have trodden the path of dishonour,
Neither respecting myself nor the mistress, Penelopeia.
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Telemachus was of late but a half-grown lad, and his mother
Would not allow him to give his commands to the women attendants.
Come now, might I ascend to the glistering upper apartment
All to report to thy wife? Some deity sank her in slumber."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
430
"Navy, not yet shalt thou wake her; but go to the women and tell them
Hither to come—those maidens that shamelessly acted aforetime."
Thus did he speak, and the nurse went back to the inner apartment
Bearing the message, and ordered the women to hasten their coming.
Now did Odysseus to Telemachus and the cowherd and swineherd
435
Call, and he bade them approach, and with swift-winged words he addressed them:
"See to removing the bodies, and order the women to help you.
Then to the cleaning attend of the fine-wrought chairs and the tables.
Wash them with water, and use soft porous sponges to rub them.
Then, when the whole of the mansion is thoroughly cleansed and in order,
440
Lead those maids from the hall, and bringing them out of the palace
Down by the dome-roofed kitchen and faultless fence of the courtyard
Smite them with swords long-bladed, until ye shall see them before you,
All of them, dead. Yea, thus let them die and forget the delicious
Rites of the goddess of love that they held with the suitors in secret."
445
Thus did he speak, and the women approached all huddled together
Uttering terrible wails as they shed great tears in abundance.
Firstly the bodies they bore of the slain from the hall, and they set them
Under the inside porch of the gate of the high-walled courtyard,
Propping them one by the other, Odysseus directing the bearers,
450
Forcing them also to work, for they carried the dead by compulsion.
Then they aligned to cleaning the fine-wrought chairs and the tables,
Washed them with water, and used soft porous sponges to rub them.
Meanwhile Telemachus and the cowherd and also the swineherd
Scraping with shovels the floor of the strong-built hall of the mansion
455
Cleared it and all was collected and carried away by the women.
Now when the whole of the house they had cleansed and had set it in order,
Leading the women away from the hall and forth from the palace
Down to the dome-roofed kitchen and faultless fence of the courtyard,
Into a corner they drove them that gave no hope of escaping.
460
Then sage Telemachus spake first, addressing his comrades:
"Heaven forbid that I put to a death so cleanly and honest
Women as these, who brought on my head such shame and dishonour,
Yea and the head of my mother, consorting in love with the suitors."
Speaking, he seized on the rope of a blue-prowed vessel and lashed it
465
High on a pillar, and over the dome of the kitchen he slung it,
Hoisting it tautly, that none might reach to the ground for a foothold.
Then, as it haps if a covey of long-winged thrushes or pigeons
Suddenly fall in the snares of a trap that is set in a thicket,
Whither they flock for the night—but a bed right cruel receives them—
470
Thus with their heads in a row stood all of the women, with nooses
Over the neck, to a death most cruel and pitiful destined.
So with their feet some moments they writhed—and soon it was over.
Out by the porch to the yard they conducted Melanthius also.
First with the merciless steel of his ears and his nose they deprived him;
475
Then they extracted and threw as a feast to the dogs his intestines;
Lastly they hacked off both of his hands and his feet in their fury.
Now when the blood from their hands and their feet they had washed, to Odysseus
Into the house they returned; and the whole of the deed was accomplished.
Then to the dear nurse Eurycleia he called, and address her :
480
"Nurse, bring sulphur! It cleanseth pollution. And bring me a brazier,
So that I sweeten the hall with the fumes. Then go to thy mistress;
Bid her to come to my presence with all of her maiden attendants;
Summon moreover the rest of the women that serve in the palace."
Him then in turn gave answer the dear nurse Eurycleia :
485
"Yea of a surety, my child, thou hast spoken according to reason.
Still, come now, I will fetch thee a mantle and tunic for raiment.
Thus, with thy great wide shoulders enveloped in beggarly tatters,
Stand not here in the hall. 'Twere verily blameful to do so."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
490
"Firstly I wish in the hall for a brazier of coals to be brought me."
Thus did he speak, and the dear nurse Eurycleia, obeying,
Brought to her master the sulphur and brazier of coal, and Odysseus
Thoroughly sweetened with fumes of the sulphur the house and the courtyard.
Then did the old dame go through all of the beautiful mansion
495
Taking the news to the women and bidding them hasten their coming.
So with a torch in the hand these came from the inner apartments.
Flocking around him they greeted Odysseus with joy and embraced him
Lovingly kissing his head and his shoulders in token of welcome,
Grasping and kissing his hands. And a rapture sweet overcame him,
500
Even a longing for wailing and tears as he saw them and knew them.
Odysseus kiling Penelope’s suitors. Attic red-figure skyphos, ca. 440 BCE. ,_around_440_BC,_Altes_Museum_Berlin_(13718420225)_glare-reduced_white-bg.png){kind=link}